


Notes of Romance

by silversky27



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, I'm very sorry, Music Gargon, OTL, That took way too long, give away fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 07:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18493906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversky27/pseuds/silversky27
Summary: When Ireth gets the chance of a life time to finally work on a musical, she catches the eyes of the lead, Zen. Maybe her chance came with a bonus~





	Notes of Romance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ireth_Numenesse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ireth_Numenesse/gifts).



> So last July I did a fic give away on my tumblr for reaching a thousand followers. Almost a year later, I get my shit together. 
> 
> Here's for you Irethnumenesse~ Sorry it took so long!

Ireth was excited. A few weeks ago when she checked her mail, she hadn’t expected the offer to compose the music for a new play. Needless to say, after three piano lessons in a row where the kid had obviously not practiced, receiving such a letter nearly made her cry.

She knew that some of her original music had gotten popular online, but receiving an actual offer for something that would be heard by a live audience? Not that she didn’t appreciate those who listened to her music online, but the number of physical people made her feel like her efforts were valid.

She’d immediately called the director, not wanting to lose her chance. She’d been sent the script, and got to work, taking words and turning them into what she felt would best go with the scene.

Her inspiration was flowing, and within the next two days, she sent the score and a simple recording she’d done to the director.

She knew that it was going to take the director some time to get back to her, especially since he needed to listen to the score, as well as the fact that she didn’t even know if they were anywhere near their computer.

Still, she sat there on pins and needles, anxiety growing as she waited. What if they heard her demo and decided they didn’t want her anymore? When she realized that she had bit down to the quick of her thumbnail, she sighed.

“I need to relax.” She muttered to herself, turning away from her laptop. She’d get a response at some point. She would either get the job, or she wouldn’t. Life would go on either way. She let out a huff of breath, and walked into the kitchen. Baking would help. Probably.

She’d just placed her cake pan into the oven and set a timer when her laptop made its notification sound. If asked, she would deny that she suddenly took off in the direction of her laptop. She opened her email, and let out a deep breath.

They wanted her, and she had a meeting with the director the next day.

~

 

Zen blinked in surprise as he walked into the practice area. Normally whenever he headed in early to practice, there was no one there. He liked it that way, which gave himself the freedom to stretch his acting skills as wide as he possibly wanted. But today, was different. Zen paused by the door when he heard a soft voice accompanied by piano floating from the room. He glanced in the room to see a tan woman with dark curly hair sitting at the piano, starting and stopping every once in a while so she could lean forward and add a few pencil marks to her piece of music.

He’d seen her before. He tried to make sure that even if he didn’t know their names, he would do his best to remember their faces. Her’s was a face that he didn’t recognize. Zen remembered finding it odd when the director had introduced her as their composer and accompanist, as the director they were working with was on that was very stuck to their ways. It had to take someone extremely impressive to get them to take a chance on someone new.

And from everything Zen had seen and heard, she was. During the first rehearsal she was at, she had immediately fit in among the different groups of the people in the theater. She’d meshed well with the actors and the orchestra, who took her advice as they began to work through the different songs. She hadn’t said anything directly to him, but it made sense as they were working through the company heavy songs.

But now he found her sitting at the keyboard, squinting at her sheet music, nose slightly screwed up. As Zen got closer, he realized that she wasn’t actually singing the words of the song, and instead was humming out the notes.

It was cute, Zen thought with a small smile. There was a creak under his foot as he got closer, causing her head to jerk up in surprise.

“Oh! I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just. Um. You are…?” Zen trailed off, hoping that he would be able to recover from his fumble.

“Ireth.” She said with a small smile, amusement clear on her face even through her hesitance. He grinned in response.

“I’m-“

“You’re Zen.” She interrupted him, raising an eyebrow, small smile still on her face. He blinked in surprise, and she laughed. “You’re literally the lead of the musical we work on. I’m tweaking the music with you specifically in mind.”

Zen’s face flushed slightly. He tried to salvage the conversation. “My reputation precedes me.”

She moved to shuffle her sheet music back into one pile. She looked back up to him. “Can I help you?”

“I just… noticed you working. It was interesting to watch.” He eyes grew wide slightly, and Zen grinned to himself as a small blush filled her face, as she looked down and tucked a curl behind her ear.

“It’s… nothing impressive…” She said softly.

“Are you kidding me?” Zen said with a snort. “I’d never be able to do what I do without what you do.”

She shrugged, and almost absent mindedly played with the keyboard. She looked back up at him with a small smile. “So, what are you doing here? There isn’t rehearsal today.”

“Probably for the same reason you are.” Zen said, “Get a feel of the stage and the acoustics.”

“You got me.” She said with a laugh. He loved the sound of it, and realized that he wanted to hear more of it.

“Would you mind if I sit and listen?” Zen asked.

“Sure.” She said with a small smile.

~

By the end of the night, he had her number, and by the end of the next few weeks, the meetings in the theater had become their thing. She would work on the music, as he gently sang along. She told him once that having him there helped her make more accurate edits to her music. Having the source in front of her was better than going off what was in her head.

A couple weeks later, she smiled as she put her sheets of music in order. “I think that’s it. I think we got it.”

“That’s awesome!” Zen said in excitement.

“It’s thanks to you.” Ireth said, grinning at him. “If you hadn’t started joining me for these practices, I don’t think I would have gotten it done in anywhere near the amount of time I did.”

Zen rolled his eyes. “You gotta stop putting yourself down.”

“Seriously.” Ireth said, looking at him intently. “You being here made it so I didn’t have to wait to see if my edits would work. Plus, your company isn’t too bad either.

Zen laughed, but then it trailed off. He looked at her, eyes serious. “Would you like to go out for dinner? Just the two of us?”

“Are you asking me on a date, Zen?” She teased with a small smile.

“If I was, would you say yes?” Zen asked. Her eyes widened slightly as Zen threw her off. She blushed, looking down and tucking a curl behind her ear. Zen gently touched her on the arm and spoke softly. “It doesn’t have to be a date. It can just be a dinner between friends.”

“No!” She said quickly. “I want to say yes, I just… wasn’t expecting it.”

“I’ve been flirting with you since the day I learned your name.” Zen said with a raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t want to read too much into it! I didn’t think you’d actually be flirting with me.” Ireth said, quickly becoming flustered.

“To make it clear then,” Zen said, taking her hand in his. “I like you, and would like to take you out to dinner. She nodded.

“I’d love to.”

~

Ireth was nervous as hell. Zen was picking her up in the next 20 minutes, and she really was unsure of how to move forward. She’d already shown up to rehearsals dressed down, and Zen already knew what she looked like, but there was a small part of her that told her that she needed to be dressed to the nines for this date (date!).

She pursed her lips as she glanced between the two outfits she had laid out. She picked up the safer choice, a comfortable sweater over a pair of black leggings. It was first date material. She quickly got dressed, trying to make sure everything was in order. There was a knock on her door, and she jumped up.

She pulled open the door, and his eyes widened as he saw her.

“Is everything okay?” She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh yeah.” Zen managed to get out. “It’s just. You look really nice.”

“Thanks.” She mumbled, looking down flustered. Zen stuck his hand out for her.

“Are you ready?” He asked with a confident smile.

“Of course~” She smiled, taking his hand in return. And so they set out, heading into the city to the restaurant Zen had chosen. It was honestly a hole in the wall, and Zen shrugged slightly after they had sat down and ordered.

“It’s nothing fancy, but the food is really good. I promise. I found it not long after I moved here.” Zen said.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said with a laugh, placing her hand on his where it rested on the table. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly the fanciest person.”

“But it’s a first date.” Zen said, “And I want it to go well. Damn. I should have sucked up to the CEO-in-line to get a fancy reservation.”

“Zen. It’s fine. You don’t need to suck up to anyone. I love it.” She said with a gentle squeeze. She knew that Zen was a part of the RFA, and during the downtimes during their practices, he’d definitely talked about the other members before. That included fussing about Jumin Han, C&R’s upcoming CEO.

He nodded to her, before grinning almost slyly and pointed at one of the patrons at the bar, an older man who was gesticulating wildly as he talked on his cellphone. “What’s his story?”

She grinned in excitement. It was a game the two of them had come up with one day after rehearsal. It had run later than normal, and it was dark as they left, causing Zen to insist that he walk her home. She had to laugh when they found out that they actually both went in the same direction. The only difference in their routes was the fact that Zen normally rode his bike while she took the subway.

They’d seen an eccentric woman on the subway that night, leading them to come up with a story for her. She was a fae, taking public transport on the off chance she had the opportunity to take someone away with her.

“He’s… just gotten a phone call from the vet.” She started off, looking at Zen expectantly.

“His iguana is heavily pregnant.” Zen continued.

“And now he’s trying to find the father to either exact revenge or make an honest woman out of her.” Zen snorted at her dramatics.

“They’re going to have an iguana wedding. Everyone is invited.” The man hung up his phone looking satisfied. She grinned at Zen, the short story coming to its completion.

Before they could start another, their food arrived, leading them to drop their game, and talk about each other instead. They talked about whatever, their families, their jobs both past and present, and it was the first time she’d heard that Zen was allergic to cats.

“Damn. Everyone’s got their flaws, huh?” She joked.

“You like cats?” Zen ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Love em. Though my mom is allergic to them too. On the bright side, we found a breed that doesn’t trigger her allergies.”

“Those exist?” Zen asked, and she nodded. “Huh. Never would have thought. I just avoided them.”

“Gotta stay safe.” She said with a small smile.

They continued their dinner, and at the end of the meal, he shrugged off any attempt at her trying to help pay.

“It’s a date~” He reminded her, and held out his hand again. She smiled as she took it, and they left the restaurant, walking towards her apartment. Their pace was slow, and he hadn’t let go of her hand at any point in their walk.

As they were walking, Zen finally spoke again. “How do you feel about motorcycles?”

“I’ve never ridden one, but I imagine it’s fun.” She said lightly.

“If you want, would you like to ride my motorcycle next time?” Zen was staring straight ahead, as if she was going to turn him down completely. Her heart squeezed as she smile at him, affection for him steadily growing. She squeezed his hand gently.

“I’d love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check me out at edgelord-saeran.tumblr.com


End file.
